India’s humiliating 1-3 defeat in the recently concluded BGT Series has raised many questions, including team conduct, individual performance, and the prospects of many Indian players. This defeat was followed by one of the intriguing events that the cricket fans witnessed in recent years, namely; the mid-series retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin. The shock of the off-spinner’s decision to retire from international cricket after the third Test seems to leave fans and critics agape this time, more so given the status of the player as one of India’s all-time best.
Ashwin’s bitter washout at 38 only added fuel to the fire regarding the possibilities of friction between himself and the team management. However, Ashwin himself gave details on the very emotional factors that led him to make such a decision. During a recent video uploaded to his Hindi YouTube channel, Ash Ki Baat, he stated that the decision was not made out of pressure but because he felt that he had done enough.
“I often reflect on what should I be doing in life. You have to know, this was an impulse. When you think that you laid the foundations of your life and place, then you no longer need to think anymore. Some guys had a lot of things to tell me but I think it is not a problem,” Ashwin said.
Speaking about his part in the series, he added, “I didn’t play the first Test. I got the second and missed the third. I had a doubt whether I will be able to play the subsequent match. I wanted to get creative, and once I realised that was not possible any more, I stopped.”
For that matter, when some people began to criticize him for the absence of a ceremonial send-off, Ashwin quickly pointed out that there was no need for that kind of attention.
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